


When Love Arrives

by chromyrose



Series: DaiAsaSuga dads AU [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe, Babies, Challenge: Sport Anime Shipping Olympics | SASO 2016, Fatherhood, Gay Parents, Getting Together, M/M, Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-17
Updated: 2016-07-17
Packaged: 2018-07-24 14:55:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7512550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chromyrose/pseuds/chromyrose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When single-dad Asahi moves into a new building with his baby daughter Yachi, he's grateful to befriend a neighboring couple and their toddler son -- he just has to work on reminding himself that they are taken and therefore off-limits... right...?</p>
            </blockquote>





	When Love Arrives

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kunagiri](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kunagiri/gifts).



> This was written for SASO 2016's bonus round three, where the original prompt was:
>
>> package: a plastic bag with a stuffed animal and a picture book inside  
> to: azumane asahi  
> from: sugawara koushi  
> note: the stuffed animal was left at our place by accident. the picture book is a present from me and daichi, though. come over again, you oaf. we'll be waiting for you both.
> 
> I love babies, and I love this ship, so this fic was a real labor of love for me. The title comes from Sarah Kay and Phil Kaye's poem [When Love Arrives](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPG6nJRJeWQ), which everyone should go listen to. 

It's a relief when Asahi spots the plastic bag hanging off of his doorknob with a big tanuki tail hanging out of it – as if through God's own intervention, Hitoka's favorite stuffed animal has found its own way home, after two long and miserable days of being AWOL. 

“Look who came home, Hitoka-chan,” Asahi coos gently, speaking down into the stroller his daughter is half-heartedly sniffling in. The past forty-eight hours have consisted mainly of Hitoka pausing suddenly in whatever activity she was doing, be it eating, bathing, or playing, looking around with wide eyes, and then whimpering when her favorite toy did not appear to be around. 

Now the baby stirs at her father's voice, and Asahi knows the moment she sees the tail, too, because her squeal is immediate, as are the grabby hands. She can't get out of her stroller, but it's okay, because Asahi plucks the toy out of the plastic bag, a vaguely depressed looking tanuki with a green sweatervest that kind of gives him the creeps, and Hitoka snatches it and clings to it desperately, babbling faster than her mouth can keep up with and oozing spit all down her front. 

“That's right, Mr. Tanuki came all the way home for you,” Asahi adds in the same pleasant tone, distracted as he feels something else in the bag. He pulls out a tiny board book, with a post-it note stuck on the front: 

_the stuffed animal was left at our place by accident. the picture book is a present from me and daichi, though. come over again, you oaf. we'll be waiting for you both._

Suga's voice is obvious in the writing, even without his neat signature at the bottom. Asahi tries to ignore the pirouettes in his stomach and unlocks the apartment so he can get happy, babbly Hitoka cleaned up and ready for her nap. 

– 

Asahi and Hitoka have lived in this building for six months, ever since the adoption went through and the government accepted his application to live in public housing. He was endlessly grateful to Shimizu, a high school friend-turned-social worker who was responsible first for introducing him to Hitoka (then only a week old and already too small for her age) and then for guiding him through both application processes. In a matter of weeks, Asahi went from being a twenty-five year old gay librarian with no social life to being a twenty-six year old single father living in a building full of other unconventional families. 

Including Sugawara Koushi and Sawamura Daichi, the couple who lived down on the second floor with Daichi's then eleven-month old son, Chikara. 

Asahi met Daichi first, on the day he and Hitoka moved in. In his rush to get Hitoka in out of the January chill, he nearly crashed her stroller into another's; Asahi had been terrified of the stern, muscular father pushing the other stroller, but Daichi took one look at his face and laughed. 

“Is she even three-months old yet? Maybe you should save the reckless driving for when she's a bit bigger.” 

(She was, much to Asahi's frustration, already four months old and still small for her age.)

Two hours after that mortifying encounter, Sugawara was knocking on Asahi's door, sheepishly introducing himself and asking if he could come in and meet the teeny tiny baby his boyfriend was gushing about. 

“– I can't _believe_ Daichi didn't tell me how much of a hunk her dad was,” Suga, as he insisted on being called, huffed while he helped Asahi set up the crib. “He was totally setting me up to get all flustered and speechless around you!” 

Asahi was the one who'd turned flustered and speechless, and has continued to feel as such in Suga and Daichi's company ever since. 

–

Once he gets Hitoka settled down in her crib, Asahi grabs his phone and leaves the room to make a call, still holding onto the sneaky present from 'Suga-oji'. 

“Suga,” he says immediately after the other's cheerful _“Moshi Moshi!”_ , injecting all of his frustration into his voice in the hopes that any of it gets through. “Her birthday isn't for another three months.”

Suga's laugh tickles his ears as it comes through the phone. “It's a board book, Asahi, not a bouncy castle. I don't need a reason to give her a little gift, do I?” 

“You're spoiling her,” Asahi insists, thinking of the cute dress Suga bought last month (“Because Chikara's no good for that kind of thing!) and the tiny hair clips the month before that (“Last time we went to the park another mom mistook her for a _boy_ , Asahi! Accessorize her!”).

“Yeah, well, Hitoka-chan is easier to spoil than her no-nonsense Daddy, who won't even let me buy him the occasional drink.” 

“We already like you, Suga, you don't have to buy our friendship.”

Suga groans. “Oh my god, Daichi!” He calls, speaking close enough to the phone to be heard but not talking to Asahi anymore. “We said we'd give him six months to get it on his own, right? It's June now and he's still as dense as a brick!” 

Asahi feels a little more offended than curious, because whatever it was he was _supposed_ to be getting, it couldn't have been more important than Hitoka. He can't hear Daichi's response, but Suga whines. The phone gets shuffled around, and then it's Daichi's voice in his ear. 

“Hey, Asahi. Don't be too hard on Suga, alright? You know we think of Hitoka as our own, the same as Chikara. And that was one of his favorite books when he started getting to the age where he could focus on what we were saying, so I'm the one who picked it up, actually.” 

Daichi is slightly harder to be annoyed with, probably because Asahi is still kind of embarrassed by the first impression he made. Asahi does his best, and heaves a sigh. 

“We'll graciously accept your gift this time, but nothing else until her birthday. And no bouncy castles!” 

Daichi promises, and then remembers he made too much food again, so Asahi and Hitoka _have_ to come down for dinner, no buts, and hangs up before Asahi can get another word in. 

– 

Asahi dresses Hitoka for dinner in the dress Suga got her because it _is_ really cute, and because he feels a little bad about being so harsh on the phone. Even if it was earned, it's just not in Asahi's nature to channel aggression that way. 

Suga opens the door with Chikara clinging to his neck and dangling down his back, and grins as he swiftly exchanges Hitoka for a kiss on Asahi's cheek. He runs back into the apartment with one baby on his back and another against his chest, proclaiming _“This is happiness!”_ as he spins in a circle to make both children squeal with laughter. Asahi, completely dumbfounded, watches his daughter's face turn red and feels his own do something similar. 

Because Suga is a kissy person with the kids, with Daichi, and lately also with Asahi, but he isn't a kissy, campy kind of person in general, despite the initial impression some people have of him. He's guarded and humble and polite, and Asahi isn't sure when, how, or why he became one of the exceptions. 

Chikara is let down onto the couch, and after some prompting from Suga, he runs back to the door to greet Asahi properly. He's almost a year older than Hitoka, and Asahi marvels at how big he is, how much he can do, how much he looks like Daichi – everything about Chikara is precious to him. He remembers what Daichi said about Hitoka over the phone, and it resonates. 

“Hi-ji's here!” Chikara calls into the apartment, taking Asahi's hand so he can lead him into the kitchen. “Tou-san, Tou-san, Hi-ji's here!” 

Daichi's drying his hands off on a dish towel when they get to him, and he smiles and nods at Asahi before turning his attention downwards. 

“That's right, he is here. Did you say hello?” 

“Yes,” Chikara confirms gravely, because this is a Serious Matter. Asahi smiles indulgently at him, gives his soft black hair a gentle tousle. 

“Chikara-kun was very kind to me today and he helped me find Otou-san. Good work.” 

Chikara becomes shy, but leans into Asahi's hand nonetheless. Daichi nods proudly at his son, and Chikara preens a little more, before he becomes so overwhelmed with his own flustered pride that he runs back out into the living room, full of giggles. 

“I can't say I made anything fancy today, just rice and fish and some gently roasted vegetables. Hitoka eats carrots, right?”

“If they're soft enough,” Asahi confirms, and then he wipes his own cheek nervously with his wide palm. “You've done more than enough, Daichi, you and Suga both. I'm sorry if I ever seem frustrated or ungrateful.” 

Daichi presses his finger over Asahi's lips, then smacks his shoulder for good measure. “You're about to put yourself down, I can feel it. Don't do that. I get how hard it is being a single dad, and I only had to do that for two months before Suga and I reconnected. Give yourself a little more credit.” 

“Are you chiding Asahi without me?” Suga asks as he comes into the kitchen. “Dai, you know that's my _favorite_ past-time.” 

Suga and Daichi share a quick kiss with Hitoka between them, and again Asahi's stomach starts performing acrobatic feats. He finds himself wishing they wouldn't kiss in front of him so often, and it frustrates him because he's not a homophobe, obviously, and it's not as if he's jealous, either. 

But Asahi is still relieved when Hitoka starts fussing and reaches for him, and he kisses her soft, fat cheek. It makes him feel a little better, especially when she reaches up and pets his face. 

“Good girl,” Daichi praises her kindly. “You're such a sweet girl, taking care of your Daddy like that.” 

“Just like I taught her,” Suga adds with a giggle, as he starts making plates for the kids. They're over so often that there's an entire set of tableware meant specifically for Hitoka in their cabinets. 

Things are starting to fit together. Asahi has been running away from this epiphany for months but exhaustion is catching up. 

The adults 'set the table'. Chikara is at an age where he doesn't like to sit down while he's eating, so he'll allow Daichi to feed him a spoonful or two before he dashes off to play with some toy. When he's swallowed his food and remembers that he's hungry, he comes right back to the table and opens his mouth again. Asahi watches fondly as Daichi runs through the exasperating routine, taking the time to eat while his son is off exercising some freedom. 

“Just you wait until Hitoka-chan can walk around the apartment on her own, she'll never stay in place again,” he comments scornfully when he notices Asahi's amusement. Asahi tries not to panic about the inevitable, and it's easy when Hitoka is sitting in his lap, opening her mouth obligingly for little bites of veggies or fish and clinging to her father's shirt all the while. 

“If she's anything like Asahi, she's going to be the kind of toddler who is constantly stuck to him,” Suga counters. “I know she's adopted, but it feels like she's got the same personality as you.” 

“That would make things a lot easier,” Asahi admits. “I'm already scared of all the difficult girl stuff I'm not going to understand or know how to help her with.” 

Suga pauses thoughtfully, and then reaches across the table to take Asahi's hand. “I'm sure that between the three of us, we'll be able to figure something out.” 

Asahi feels a knot in his chest. There is no where to run anymore, not with hazel eyes piercing him so. Not when he could feel Daichi gazing over his shoulder to watch while he attempted to feed his son, too. 

“When you say _'the three of us'_ , what you mean is...” He trails off, a lump in his throat stealing his voice. Hitoka tugs on his shirt and babbles, and he cuddles her a little closer. 

“What we mean is...?” Suga nods emphatically. “Say it, Asahi, for the love of God, PLEASE.” 

“Volume,” Daichi mumbles for the benefit of Chikara, who is looking very invested in their conversation suddenly. “Go on, Asahi.” 

“...But you're dating each other??” 

Suga exhales like a load was taken off of his chest. “You've finally acknowledged it in your own Asahi way. Yes, we are dating each other and very, very much in love, and everything was like a Disney fairytale until you moved in upstairs and suddenly we were Ariel singing to a statue at the beginning of the movie again.” 

Daichi wipes Chikara's mouth and then turns to face him properly. “What Suga's saying is, you managed to make our relationship whole without us even realizing it hadn't been complete yet. I'm pretty sure Suga actually went to a temple on the day you told us you were gay.”

Suga smacks Daichi and complains that he's a terrible secret keeper. Hitoka is done eating, and fussing because she wants to crawl over to inspect a colorful toy. Asahi is far, far away from these events. 

“We know it's not conventional,” Suga says after squeezing his hand. “I mean, really, _really_ unconventional. And we wouldn't ask you to do anything that would put your custody of Hitoka-chan into jeopardy, either. But... if you'll have us, Asahi, we want you.” 

And for all of the emotions he's feeling, for the burning in his eyes that warns of impending tears and the way he shifts his hold on Hitoka so she can look out at Daichi and Suga, too, all Asahi can manage to say is, “We... should probably move into someplace bigger.”

**Author's Note:**

> I totally live and die by this OT3, ugh, they are so near and dear to my heart. If you feel the same way, or just happened to enjoy this fic despite that, please let me know with a kudos or a comment! You can find me elsewhere online on [twitter](http://twitter.com/haikyuutiie) or [tumblr](http://zahhaked.tumblr.com)


End file.
